Recent Tasting Notes

Townshend’s Tea appears to be remodeling their website, because when I went there I could not find this tea … and the website looked quite different from what I remember. I hope that the missing few teas is only a temporary thing, because I don’t see my favorite Pear and Pomegranate tea on there yet.

But this tea is quite nice too. The vanilla is strong. A good tea to represent Mt. Hood which is usually covered in snow, one of our most picturesque views in this area is looking toward Mt. Hood. Some days it appears to be floating.

A nice, pleasant tea. I might like the black tea base to be a little more rounded, perhaps a blend instead of one tea type (I suspect this is a Ceylon because it’s not particularly bold. It’s delicious, but just not as sturdy as some other teas that could have been selected for a base). But it is still quite a nice afternoon tea, and I suspect it also makes a heck of a latte.

I love your post on this! Mountains, tea shops… I am jealous. Cannot wait to move and see Mt. Rainier again! Haven’t been further south than that but I will travel all over the pacific northwest once I get there.
Hopefully that tea site comes back to full working order too.

Brewed up a very pale yellow green, smells of yummy roasted coconut and oolong, with a faint overtone of dustiness (not sure where I’m getting that from, but I’m super sensitive to the smell of dust, so it may just be me?)

First infusion:
Fore flavors: Vegetable, slightly nutty and sweet. In the aftertaste the roasted coconut comes out. The oolong is delicious and isn’t bitter at all (an issue I had with Spice and Tea Exchange’s coconut oolong). That dust thing I mentioned initially isn’t coming out at all in the taste, which is excellent.

I’m going to try more infusions of the tea, and will update this with those :)

Preparation

Wow! OK… so as I was pouring this from my teapot to my mug, I could swear I was smelling cinnamon and sugar donuts! YES … donuts. That is what this smells like fresh from the teapot.

And it does have elements to it that give it a sort of cake-y, donut-ish flavor. It is cinnamon-y and sweet, and the chicory gives it a deep, roasted flavor and together with the honeybush it creates a savory, freshly baked cake kind of taste. It’s very satisfying … my sweet tooth approves!

I recently placed an order with Townshend’s Tea which just arrived yesterday, and this is actually the tea that made me want to place that order. That is unusual only because I don’t think that there’s ever been a time when a Lapsang Souchong tea is what made me want to place an order. I’m just not a fan – typically – of Lapsang Souchong as I don’t like that heavily smoked flavor.

But it was the UNSMOKED that captured my attention, as you probably can guess.

And I LOVE this tea. I love that I can taste the complexity of this tea grown in the same region of the smoked Lapsang Souchong, but without the heavy smoking process to alter the flavors. There are some smoky tones to this, but they are considerably lighter than that heavy pine-smoked flavor and aroma of most Lapsang Souchong teas. This tea has delicious fruit tones – almost plum-like, sweet and luscious! Some floral tones too! It doesn’t have that same caramel-y note in a smoked Lapsang Souchong, but the sweetness from the fruit tones is so pleasant that I don’t find myself wishing this had that caramel note.

I think I read that souchong refers to the size of the leaf, being one of the largest leaves on the branch used for tea making, I think about the fifth to seventh from the tip. I don’t recall what Lapsang means, though. Off to the magic that is Google!…

@Angrboda: it does have some smoky tones to it, it just isn’t that heavy pine smoke from the smoking process. These leaves are roasted instead of smoked, so there is a little bit of smokiness from the roasting process.

This is one of my favorite teas right now.. Brews up into a lovely bright green. Smells of delicious ripe strawberries, though the strawberry flavor itself is mellow and I find most of it to be in the aftertaste. Just a very pleasant tea.

Preparation

Sweetest and super mellow chamomile mint blend I have ever had. I drink it almost every night. It is beautiful, with honey notes and doesn’t get bitter if left too long. One of the best things I received in an exchange.

Preparation

So enjoying a cup right now. I brewed it in my ingenuiTEA. The color is so pure. I wanted to note that today it is hitting my palate with a sweet note and when swallowing I am hit with the earthy flavor behind it. Its kind of neat how complex the profile is and that the flavor has so much depth.

I recently bought some tea from Townshend’s as a gift, and decided I wanted to get a little something for myself at the same time. This is a blend I hadn’t yet tried so I wanted to check it out.

Because it is a blend with both green and black teas, I opted to brew it using a lower temperature. This resulted in a rather light brew that is somewhat similar to a dark Oolong (which seems to be a trend for today).

I can still taste qualities from each of the teas here, though: the Yunnan has a hint of pepper to it, and a really nice undertone of sweetness. The Assam is rich and malty, although not nearly as rich as it would have been with a higher brew temp. The green tea doesn’t really have a strong flavor, but, it does add a light, sweet hint of flavor and a vague note of flower to the cup.

Hi,
Nice review. Good that you are able to discern black notes from green notes; stating early on how that you brew it low temperature, resulting with something similar to a dark Oolong. The mentioning of Oolong makes me want to place this tea on my wish list. Done. Thank you.

Of course, I am an Earl Grey fan, but this creme- earl grey is quite unique. The dry smell reminded me a lot of chocolate, and the creme taste in the brewed tea was like brown butter.. sweet and dark and caramel along with my good ol Earl. Good times.

One of my Portland tea purchases, this is the first one I’ve tried now that I’m home.

Townshend’s Tea Company describes this tea as having a smokey, earthy taste. When a tea is described as smokey, I think of Lapsang Souchong. This in no way resembled a Lapsong Souchong. I tasted nothing smokey about it…

And that’s probably a good thing. As someone who doesn’t seek out smokey flavored teas, I find this (non-smokey) tea very drinkable. It’s hard to describe: it tastes like other teas I’ve had in nice Chinese restaurants. It’s subtle. It goes really well with food. It’s delicious!

Preparation

Yum! The vanilla is very strong all around—before and after brewing. It smells a lot like a really plump vanilla bean. The black tea is a perfect match for the vanilla flavor. The description says that the black tea is from Sri Lanka, so I assume it’s a Ceylon. I’m used to Assam black teas, and I enjoyed this one thoroughly with a sprinkle of sugar and a dash of milk. It was even tasty on the second brew. I’m looking forward to trying it iced.

Imagine you’ve gone skiing for the day. The air is crisp and cold, the snow falls all around you, and by the end of your skiing escapade, you feel like you’ve living in a snow globe, but are completely delighted by winter. You retire to your ski lodge, take off all your wet gear, and get ready to curl up on the sofa in your Irish wool sweater. But, before you do, you start a nice warm, roaring fire in the lodge’s old fireplace to warm yourself and get the feeling back in your cheeks.

This is what this tea tastes like. The smokeiness is lovely and rich, it isn’t stale and ‘ash’-like which is my problem with so many smoky teas. The spices and other flavours in the tea round it out to create a very unique flavour that warms your senses as well as your insides.

Hm, I really enjoyed this one, it’s a lot more subtle than I was expecting, however. Some peach and apricot teas can be almost cloying in the application of fruitiness, but this was perfect for a morning that began too early.

As with many teas, I added a bit of extra tea and time to the process, as I like a strong cup. Taken with a bit of Truvia and skim milk.

I’m beginning to think Townshend’s really can’t do wrong. I’d like to drink more Foxfire teas, but they’re clear across town and I am a lazy sipper.

Preparation

I went out shopping today looking for something smokey. I keep reading great reviews of smokey teas, and I’ve been enjoying Brioche, which has a slightly burnt flavour. I found a tin of Alberta Street Chai, and a tin of Lapsang Souchong, also by Townshend’s Tea Company.

I used to drink Lapsong Souchong as a child, but that was in England, and maybe we have a more domesticated version there, maybe smokey like an indoor log fire, cozy and safe. I definitely don’t remember it being like these teas!

This Lapsang Souchong is described as “having an aroma and flavor that brings to mind a campfire.” It really does smell of the American outdoors, and this isn’t RV camping, it’s hunters, woodsmen, maybe cowboys. I think this campfire turned into a raging forest fire though. I smell devastation! I haven’t dared taste it yet.

The Alberta Street Chai doesn’t taste like a traditional chai. It tastes like this Lapsang Souchong smells. A fire in the woodshed at the very least. I added some cream and it’s delicious! I’m about to make a second pot.

I may have to have a fireman on standby before I try the other.

Preparation

This is quite tart and hibiscus like…I’m thankful for the licorice for knocking that level of Hibiscus down to size a little bit. I think this would be better iced – I am currently sipping hot, tho. Not my favorite but it could certainly be worse.

Holy teagasm! This is an amazing tea and bound to make any day feel better. Tastes like Earl Grey mixed with marshmallow and cream, in the best way possible. I used 1.5 tsp as per instructions and a splash of nonfat milk. Stellar.

Preparation

I’m not a big fan of green tea, usually I say it tastes like lawn clippings. This one was an accidental purchase, but turned out to be really lovely. It’s very mild and while the strawberry scent is intense, the flavor is mellow.